Analysing the history of the derelomine flower weevil-Carludovica association (Coleoptera: Curculionidae; Cyclanthaceae)

Abstract

The evolutionary history of the interaction among species of derelomine flower weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Derelomini) and the Panama-hat palm Carludovica (Cyclanthaceae) is analysed with emphasis on the congruence of (1) topologies and (2) character state transformations in each of the Neotropical clades. For this purpose cladistic analyses are complemented with host plant records, natural history information and selected morphological studies of the associated taxa. The interaction is specialized, involving pollination, oviposition into the inflorescences and the predation of seeds (particularly within Systenotelus). As results from a range of standard coevolutionary methods of analysis indicate, however, events of colonization, extinction and independent (non-reciprocal) speciation have been abundant throughout the history of the association. At the same time it is possible to specify the homology and succession of characters among species of derelomines and Carludovica and interpret them as reciprocal adaptations to attack and protect the seeds, respectively. It is argued that -in light of the limited evolutionary stability of many insect-plant interactions -the question of coevolution is most effectively addressed by combining information from the character-and topology-based approaches.

On the utility of female genitalia in the systematics of Curculionidae: examples from Entimini and Hylobiina (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

“…Anderson 1989;O'Brien & Askewold 1992;Morrone 1993Morrone , 1996Askevold et al 1994;Lanteri & Diaz 1994;O'Brien et al 1994O'Brien et al , 1995Kojima 1997;Normark & Lanteri 1998;Franz 2003Franz , 2004Sousa et al 2004). As expected, these characters are of more limited universality and some of them are similar to the ones used in the Arniticus and Entimini studies, as in all of the following: apodeme and lobe of sternite VIII length relation (Anderson 1989;Lyal 1993;Morrone 1996;Franz 2004), sternite VIII arms form (O'Brien…”

“…Nonetheless, the female genitalia are proving to be an important source of characters, from description of taxa (species or genera) to cladistic analysis (e.g. Vanin 1986;Anderson 1989;Lanteri & Morrone 1991;O'Brien & Askewold 1992;Howden 1993Howden , 1996Lyal 1993;Morrone 1993Morrone , 1996Lanteri & Diaz 1994;Kuschel 1995;Marvaldi & Morrone 2000;Marvaldi et al 2002;Franz 2003Franz , 2004Marvaldi 2005). Herein we off er examples from our work on the systematics of the tribe Entimini (Vanin & Gaiger 2005) and the tribe Hylobiini, subtribe Hylobiina (Gaiger 2003), in which the characters of the female genitalia and associated sclerites show signifi cant impact on the fi nal results.…”

Ecological and Evolutionary Diversification of the Seed Beetle Genus Stator (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae)

“…Some recent studies have begun to explore how these different ecological axes may affect patterns of diversification (e.g., Nyman et al 1998;Weiblen and Bush 2002;Franz 2004), and this paper explicitly addresses this question. Species in the seed beetle genus Stator (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) collectively show considerable interspecific variation in host affiliation, diet breadth, and the dispersal stage of the seeds upon which females oviposit (integument of predispersal indehisced pods; seeds within predispersal dehisced pods; and dispersed seeds).…”

Morphological and Molecular Perspectives on the Phylogeny, Evolution, and Classification of Weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea): Proceedings from the 2016 International Weevil Meeting

“…Species of various semiaquatic weevils (e.g., Bagous Germar, Notiodes Schoenherr, Listronotus Jekel) are generally associated with unrelated plants likely because these groups of plants live in the same habitat as the weevils [74]. Weevil associations with plants in the family Cyclanthaceae have a recently elucidated complex history with no simple cophyletic basis or host range pattern [75]. Robert introduced his leaf litter project in Central America (LLAMA; Leaf Litter Arthopods of Mesoamerica; https://sites.google.com/site/longinollama/), where he and collaborators sampled at low, middle and high elevations, obtaining distinct faunas at each elevation for each locality sampled.…”